Leadershifting: Virtual Professional Development Series
New Ways of Seeing, Doing, and Leading from the Middle
This professional development series provides leadership skills and knowledge building needed by community college professionals to lead change from the “middle” of their institutions. The workshops are based on research on effective leadership, the Leading from the Middle (LFM) curriculum, and insights and experiences of LFM alumni engaged in social and racial justice, inclusion, equity, and student success efforts. Many of the skills taught in these workshops are aligned with the American Association of Community Colleges’ competencies for community college leaders.
Who Should Attend
Mid-level administrators; counseling, academic, and adjunct faculty; classified professionals; and institutional researchers and planners are invited to participate. Please note these workshops are intended for individual participants and the curriculum is different from what we offer as part of our Leading from the Middle Academy.
What You'll Get
Each three-hour virtual workshop comes with a companion workbook with fill-in-the-blank notes for each lesson, which you can follow as you learn, and tools and activities you can use to lead from the middle. During each of the workshops, you will have the opportunity to apply the concepts being discussed. Each workshop has specific learning outcomes that can be found within the workshop descriptions below.
The workshops are designed to be interactive learning experiences. Please come prepared to actively participate in small and large group discussions and to learn from and share with your peers. Note that workshops will not be recorded.
Details
The series includes six virtual workshops, offered weekly on Thursdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm in February and March. You may sign up for individual workshops, as a series of three, or as a series of all six workshops. We recommend that you take workshops 1 and 2 together. Workshops 4 and 5 (Lead and Develop Teams) jointly make up a six-hour learning experience that will be held in two parts on different dates with separate registration. Please register for both dates if you intend to take the Lead and Develop Teams workshop.
Registration Fees:
Individual Workshop/Member - $175
Individual Workshop/Non-member - $220
Package of 3 Workshops/Member - $450
Package of 3 Workshops/Non-member - $560
Package of 6 Workshops/Member - $840
Package of 6 Workshops/Non-member - $1050
Click here to register.
Questions?
Please email Ireri Valenzuela, LFM Director, at irerilfm@rpgroup.org.
Your values are the North Star that guide your behaviors, decision-making, and actions. To be an authentic and credible leader others want to follow, start by clarifying your values: What do you stand for? What do you believe? Having this foundation will give you the confidence to lead courageously, even in situations where you might be the lone voice. While not easy, identifying and understanding your values is an essential exercise. This workshop will help you identify your personal values and how to communicate them to others. Remember, your words and deeds must be unwavering to be an effective leader.
Learning Outcomes:
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Reaffirm your values and purpose
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Provide examples of how your actions align with your values in your personal life and in your role as a middle leader
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Clearly communicate your values to others
The COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, economic challenges, and the political climate have converged to create an unpredictable and complex environment that community college leaders must navigate in order to increase the success of their various student populations. Effectively getting the support of others in transforming our institutions to better serve students requires us to understand ourselves—what we truly care about, how we make decisions, why we do what we do. In this interactive workshop, we will refer to traditional leadership theories, styles, and associated qualities to gain clarity of the leadership style and behaviors we naturally gravitate to—our “default” style—and to identify opportunities for growth. We will utilize leadership scenarios and role plays to practice shifting to leadership behaviors that may not be our go-to way of leading but are best for addressing a given situation.
Learning Outcomes:
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Reflect on, explore, and identify leadership qualities and characteristics to understand your default leadership style
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Identify when your leadership style is not effective and practice an alternative style
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Discuss situational leadership and apply the concepts to different scenarios
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Explain adaptive leadership and practice the concepts using role-plays
Whether you have a formal leadership title or not, we all have the capacity to influence others. Through our influence, we can change people’s behaviors and beliefs, garner resources, and change outcomes. This workshop will explore the difference between power and influence, the key elements of effective influencing skills, and your role as an influencer at your institution. We will engage with various tools to provide you with a better understanding of your circles of influence and discuss different strategies and opportunities to develop more effective influencing skills.
Learning Outcomes:
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Articulate why influence is important
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Understand the key elements of effective influencing skills
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Assess your current influencing capabilities and competencies
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Identify opportunities to develop effective influencing skills
Part I: Teams are vitally important in helping us achieve what we cannot do alone. So, how does a group of individuals develop into a team? Research has shown that a group must progress through certain stages of development to become a highly effective team. You, as a leader, are responsible for managing this process. During our time together, you will learn about the stages of team development, understand why these stages matter in a team’s development journey, and clarify your role as a leader.
Learning Outcomes:
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Describe the stages of team development
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Identify factors that contribute to team cohesion or division
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Explain the skills and behaviors that foster effective team leadership
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Practice the Full Circle Leadership framework to identify team member skills and opportunities for growth
Part II: Promoting a team-focused culture is essential to a participatory governance model and getting people to align and achieve a common goal. It is important to value each member’s contributions and to learn about areas where your team members can improve to support their development and growth. During this workshop, you will learn how to use a framework called Full Circle Leadership to identify the talents and areas of improvement of the people you work with. Helping them work to their strengths will make them feel valued and balance out and complement the skills of others.
Learning Outcomes:
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Describe the stages of team development
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Identify factors that contribute to team cohesion or division
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Explain the skills and behaviors that foster effective team leadership
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Practice the Full Circle Leadership framework to identify team member skills and opportunities for growth
Communication is at the core of effective leadership and is vital in making organizational change possible. Two essential but often overlooked communication skills are listening and asking powerful questions. To better understand the world, improve decision-making, strategize, and innovate, we must listen deeply and engage people in creative conversations sparked by powerful questions. During this workshop, you will learn the difference between various types of listening, identify your listening style, and reflect on and deepen your listening skills. We will also discuss types of powerful questions and learn about and practice the GROW conversation framework, a leadership tool that works across all disciplines and cultures to explore potential and opportunities. GROW is an acronym for Goal, Reality, Options, and Will do.
Learning Outcomes:
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Identify your listening style
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Acquaint yourself with different levels of listening
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Understand the difference between various types of listening
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Reflect on and deepen your listening skills
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Describe the benefits of asking powerful questions
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Identify different types of questions and their outcomes
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Practice using the GROW conversation framework